The Merpeople's Song
by fluffycho
Summary: A very unlikely tragic tale of romance - Cho and Harry.
1. Emotional Problems

The Merpeople's Song - How Love Can Change Everything  
  
Chapter 1  
  
It was November. The grey clouds hung low over Hogwarts and the wind was becoming colder each day. The Quidditch season had begun, and Harry was walking back up to the castle on his own after a practice session when he noticed somebody sitting by the lake. Harry couldn't make out who it was because it was getting dark, but they too were alone. Harry slowly walked towards the figure wondering who it was and what they were doing there. As he drew closer, Harry realised it was Cho. He hesitated, wondering what to do.  
  
"Speak to her," said a voice in his head. "Go on. There's no-one else around". So, Harry, heart hammering, walked up to Cho. She didn't notice him. She seemed to be lost in her thoughts. "Hi, Cho," Harry croaked. He hurridly cleared his throat. Cho jumped in surprise and looked up. "Oh, hi Harry," she replied smiling. Harry's heart gave a jolt, but he couldn't help noticing that Cho looked slightly upset by something. "Mind if I sit down?" asked Harry, gesturing towards the ground next to Cho, before he realised what he was doing. Cho didn't answer but shook her head, so Harry sat down on the cool grass beside Cho. He glanced at her. She was staring at her feet miserably. "What's the matter?" Harry asked quietly. She looked up at him and quickly looked back down again. "You can tell me, Cho. You can trust me," said Harry with deep concern in his brilliant green eyes. "It's just...," Cho began. "I'm just thinking about something. - Cedric". Harry's heart fell. Did she still love Cedric? "What about him?" Harry said, a little more angrily than he had meant to. Cho gave him a queering look and Harry blushed the colour of his Quidditch robes as he tried to regain the concerned expression. "The thing is," Cho said after a while, breaking the awkward silence. "I want to stop thinking about him. I mean, I'll never forget him, and I'll think about him every now and then, but I just want to stop thinking about him all the time. I need to". "Oh," said Harry, wishing he could say more. "But it's difficult," continued Cho looking over the lake. "It's bound to be difficult, Cho. You loved him. You can't forget him that easily," he replied. "It's going to take time. It'll come though, eventually". Cho looked at him. "Oh, Harry," she said and flung her arms around him. Harry could feel his heart pounding in his chest and he felt his face burning red. Cho started crying into his shoulder so Harry nervously put his arms around her and started to rub his hand on her back to comfort her. "You're so kind, Harry," sobbed Cho, pulling away from him at last. They gazed into each other's eyes for a while, then Cho, as if suddenly realising what she was doing, stood up muttering something about a meeting and rushed off towards the castle. Harry stared after her. He had wanted that moment to last forever.  
  
Cho was still running. She had ran across the Entrance Hall and was now making her way down into the dungeons. She wanted to be away from the hustle and bustle of the main school, but she couldn't stay outside. Not with Harry. Things were bad enough as they were. She had a boyfriend, the first since Cedric, and yet she still longed for Cedric's touch. She thought that was unfaire on her current boyfriend, and that was the reason why she was sitting outside alone - to think things over and to get over Cedric. But then, Harry had come. He was such a nice person, so kind and so loyal to his friends, he was fairly good-looking, and he loved her. She knew that, and she had feelings for him too. But nothing could happen between her and Harry. Not when she has a boyfriend. Not when she still thinks of Cedric. That would really be bad. She couldn't love three boys at once. It wasn't right.  
  
She was hurrying along a dark passage when she heard a voice from behind her.  
  
"What are you doing here?" She turned around and her eyes met Draco Malfoy. He saw at once that she had been crying and so he hurried up to her and wrapped his arms around her in a warm embrace. "What's wrong?" Cho began to cry again. She knew she would get over Cedric eventually, like Harry had said. But what was she going to do about Harry? She loved him and he loved her, but she had Draco, and he and Harry were worst enemies. If she left Draco he would turn on Harry, she was sure, and she didn't want Harry to get hurt. She didn't want Draco to turn nasty either. Just then, Cho fell on to her hands and knees. All the crying and the stressing had tired her out greatly and she just couldn't stay on her feet. Malfoy sat down beside her on the cold stone floor and placed his hands on her shoulders.  
  
"Get your hands off her!" A sudden shout from behind them made them jump. Harry was standing there pointing his wand at Malfoy. "Wh-what?" stammered Malfoy. "You heard me. Leave her alone!" Harry said loudly. Malfoy looked at Cho, who was staring at Harry open mouthed. "Potter," Malfoy began. There was a loud bang as Harry's curse hit Malfoy, who fell to the floor with a cry. Harry then rushed towards Cho and held out his hand to help her up. Cho did not take his hand, however. Instead she just looked up at him and said, "you shouldn't have done that. - you shouldn't have attacked another student". There was a note of disappoinment in her voice. Harry was very confused by this. "I thought he was hurting you," mumbled Harry. Cho stood up, performed the counter-curse on Malfoy, and disappeared back up the passage. Malfoy sat up and glared at Harry. "You'd better watch it, Potter," he said scathingly and marched off. 


	2. Heartbroken

Chapter 2  
  
A week had passed, and Harry was still very confused about what had happened down in the dungeon that night. He had only tried to help Cho. Why did she sound so disappointed? What was Malfoy doing to her? A sick feeling swept across Harry. He had just got a horrible image of Malfoy and Cho holding hands. Harry shook himself. No, he told himself. Just because they were both in the dungeons doesn't mean that there's anything between them. But still, Harry couldn't help but feel slightly worried.  
  
Harry climbed down the stairs from his dormatory and into the Gryffindor common room where Ron and Hermione were waiting for him seated in armchairs by the fire. "What were you doing?" asked Ron. "Yes, you've been ages," commented Hermione. "Sorry," muttered Harry. "Things to do". Ron raised an eyebrow. "You're not even changed yet, Harry, so I don't know what things you had to do". Harry quickly looked down at himself. He was so lost in his thoughts that he had forgotten to get dressed. "Oh no!" said Harry as he turned and rushed back up to his room. Ron and Hermione looked at each other.  
  
After breakfast Harry, Ron and Hermione decided to take a walk in the grounds and maybe pay a visit to Hagrid. It was a Saturday and they didn't feel like doing homework just yet. The three of them had just left the castle when Harry spotted Cho sitting by the lake alone again. Hermione noticed her friend looking at the girl and said, "oh, I've just remembered something. You go ahead". She then looked at Ron and nodded towards Cho before rushing back inside the castle. Ron turned around and noticed Harry still staring at Cho.  
  
"Something on your mind?" teased Ron, waving a hand in front of Harry's face. Harry snapped out of his trance and pulled his eyes away from Cho, blushing deeply. "N-no," stammered Harry in reply, looking at the ground. "Oh, come on, Harry!" said Ron hitting Harry on the shoulder. "You like her. You know you do". "Wh-what?" "Go speak to her. Go on!" said Ron, shoving Harry towards the lake. Harry stumbled forwards. "Yeah, that's it. You're getting there!" said Ron. "Go on, keep going!" More pushing and shoving. "Oh, OK. If you don't want me here then I'll go, but you just make sure you go talk to her," said and exasperated Ron, and he headed back to the castle.  
  
So, Harry, again, began walking towards Cho, not knowing what on earth he was going to talk about this time. Harry sat down next to Cho and looked out over the lake as she was doing. They stared at the glimmering water in silence for a while before Cho spoke.  
  
"How are you?" said Cho nervously. "Wh-?! Err, fine, yeah, you?" replied Harry. "I'm OK, I suppose". This conversation was oddly formal and very forced, Harry thought, feeling very uncomfortable. "So....so, what's been going on then?" asked Harry. "Oh, nothing special". "Are you still thinking about Cedric?" Harry asked after considering the question for a while. There was a slight pause before Cho responded. "Yes," she said finally. "Among other things". Harry gazed at her. "Tell her how you feel". The voice in his head had awoken again. "Go on. Tell her you love her". It spoke just like Ron had done earlier. "If you tell her she might go out with you. Then she'll forget all about that Diggory and she'll be all your's. Go on!"  
  
Harry opened his mouth but no sound came out, so he closed it again quickly before Cho noticed. OK, thought Harry. So, I can't tell her. Now what do I do? For some reason he was determind to let Cho know about his feelings. He supposed that the voice had managed to convince him somehow. Without thinking, Harry put an arm around her shoulder. "Leave off, Potter!" came a voice from behind them. Harry quickly removed his arm from Cho and turned around. "What do you want?" he growled when he saw Malfoy running towards him. "You keep your hands off my Cho!" Harry stared. "Your Cho? - What do you mean, your Cho?!" "I mean," said Malfoy standing in front of Harry, who had also got to his feet. "She's my girlfriend". "No, she's not!" yelled Harry. "She would never go out with someone like you! Never!" "Well, I'm sorry Potter, but she is going out with me," replied Malfoy smugly. "And you can just leave us alone, Potter". "She wouldn't go out with you. I know because she still loves Cedric Diggory. She told me". Malfoy glanced at Cho, who was slowly lifting herself off the ground. "Harry," she said sofly. "Harry, I am going out with Draco. That's why I was feeling upset. I thought that I was be being unfaire to him if I still had feelings for Cedric. That's what I was thinking about. I'm sorry if you thought I had feelings for you". Harry looked completely broken-hearted. "We can still be friends though," said Cho. "Yes?" Harry didn't reply. He was in shock. "Come on, Cho," said Draco quietly after a while. "Come on". The pair of them walked towards the castle, Malfoy with his arm around Cho. Cho looked back a couple of times but Harry, who's head was hung, did not notice.  
  
That night Harry stayed in his dormatory. He didn't even go down for dinner. "What's up with Harry?" He could hear farmiliar voices floating up to his room from the common room. The voice belonged to Hermione. "I dunno," replied Ron. "I'll go see if he's OK". Harry hurridly wiped his wet eyes with the back of his hand when he heard this. There were footsteps on the staircase outside, the door opened, and Ron walked in. "Harry, are you OK? Why didn't you come down to dinner?" asked Ron. Then he realised that his friend's eyes were very red and rushed up to him. "Harry? What's up? What happened?" "Cho," croaked Harry. "Cho..." "What about her? What happened?" "She - she's got a boyfriend. She's going out with somebody". There was a pause. "Malfoy". Ron felt awful. He didn't know what to say. So, he just put a comforting arm around his friend and looked at him helplessly, wishing he had brought Hermione up with him. 


	3. Quidditch

Chapter 3  
  
The next few days were terrible for Harry. Everywhere he went he could see Malfoy's leering face swagger past him, and he also seemed to keep running into Cho. Ron and Hermione were trying desparately to cheer him up, but none of their ideas worked. Not even Quidditch seemed to be taking Harry's mind off Cho and Malfoy. The fact that the first game - Gryffindor versus Slytherin was coming up didn't help the matter. Harry was determind to win this game. He had to beat Malfoy at something. Also, he wanted to impress Cho.  
  
The day of the opening match arrived quicker than Harry had hoped. He was dreading the game as he had put so much pressure on himself to win. The team got changed into their Quidditch robes and were standing by the door, waiting to walk out onto the pitch. They could hear the crowd outside talking excitedly, and Fred, the new captain of the team was making jokes about the Slytherins. But Harry heard none of this. He was too busy trying to come up with a plan to humiliate Malfoy in front of the whole school, and more importantly, Cho. A few minutes later, they heard a whistle from beyond the door signaling them to come out. The team wished each other good luck and walked out on to the pitch to meet the sound of applause, whistling and a lot of shouting. In the centre of the pitch the Gryffindors turned to face the Slytherins who were already standing in a line. The captains shook hands with each other, the whistle sounded, and the game began. The commentry, as usual, was provided by the Weasley's friend Lee Jordan.  
  
Harry flew over the rest of the game searching for the Snitch when Malfoy suddenly appeared in front of him blocking his path. "What do you want?" snarled Harry glaring at the Slytherin Seeker. "Just come to tell you to leave my Cho alone and to go find some other girl," replied Malfoy. "How about the girl Weasley? I'm sure she, at least will have famous Harry Potter". He smirked and flew off to the other side of the pitch. Harry would have liked to punch him there and then but he contented himself by remembering his plan to humiliate Malfoy. He smirked just as Malfoy had done as he thought of the look of fury and embarassment on Malfoy's face when his plan was put into action. "Right. Here goes," Harry said to himself a few minutes after Malfoy's visit. He pretended that he had seen the Snitch somewhere just above the ground and dived - the Wronski Feint. Malfoy saw what Harry was doing and tore after him. Malfoy was at Harry's heels at exactly the right moment. Harry sharply pulled out of his dive, up and to the left, and Malfoy went hurtling down. There was a large "ooooh!" of amazement from the crowd, but it wasn't directed at Harry. Malfoy had quickly directed his broom upwards and to the right, just before he hit the ground. When Harry turned around he saw Malfoy with a triumphant look on his pointed face, his clenched fist held in the air. Slytherin had won. Malfoy had beaten Harry again.  
  
Harry was silently cursing as he flew back to the ground. How could he have been so stupid? He was concentrating so hard on getting the Wronski Feint right that he had not noticed the Snitch at all. If he had pulled out of the dive to the right instead of the left he would have been the one with the triumphant smirk. Harry landed on the grassy pitch and was immediately surrounded by his team mates, Ron, and Hermione, all complementing him on his Wronski Feint, but ignoring the fact that it had gone badly wrong and that they had lost. When the mass of people around Harry diffused a little Harry caught sight of Cho through the crowd. She seemed to be looking for Harry, because when she saw him she started walking toward him. However, she was distracted by someone else before she reached him - Malfoy. Harry stood rooted to the spot and watched in terror as Malfoy bent down to kiss Cho. "Don't do it Cho. Don't let him," Harry thought desparately, but instead she just willingly kissed him back. The whole crowd was staring at them. Now they knew. They all knew about their relationship. Harry wondered how long it would take for Malfoy to tell the whole school that Harry, his worst enemy, fancied his girlfriend.  
  
Harry felt very dipressed after the game. The team, who knew nothing of Harry's love for Cho assumed that Harry was upset just because of their defeat. "Oh, come on Harry, cheer up. It's not the end of the world," said Fred. "You're still the best Seeker we've ever had, Harry," said George. "And we'll win next time," Katie said cheerfully. "Yes, Revenclaw are nowhere near as good as they used to be since Roger Davies left," added Angelina. This last comment was far from cheering. It only reminded Harry of Malfoy and Cho kissing right in front of his very eyes, and that he had to play against Cho in the next match.  
  
The weeks flew by and the Gryffindor-Ravenclaw match drew ever closer. Harry felt sick every time he remembered or saw Cho kissing Malfoy, he had a new kind of loathing towards Malfoy, and he wanted Cho more than he had ever done. Harry didn't know what he wanted to do in the Ravenclaw match. Did he want to win to show Malfoy that he could play Quidditch? Or did he want Cho to win? Harry didn't know. He still hadn't made up his mind when he walked on to the Quidditch pitch to tremendouls applause for the second time this year.  
  
Cho was also feeling unsure. Should she deliberately lose against Harry so it would give her an excuse to go and talk to him to say "well done"?, or should she listen to what her boyfriend had said and beat Harry as he had done in the previous match? The whistle sounded and the game began, and as Cho rose into the air and caught sight of Harry, she made up her mind that she would lose on purpose just so she could talk to him. Cho glimpsed the Snitch more than once but chose to ignore it on all occasions. She noticed that Harry seemed to be keeping a distance from her at all times. How would he react when she spoke to him after the match? After about 15 minutes, Cho saw Harry dive and chased after him to make it look as though she was determined to reach the Snitch before he did. Of course, because Harry's Firebolt was much faster than her Comet, and because she wasn't really trying very hard, Harry managed to catch the golden ball. He raised his hand into the air clutching the Snitch tightly, then turned to look at Cho. She smiled at him and his face turned pink.  
  
Cho decided then, that she would go and speak to Harry while they were both still in the air so Malfoy would not interrupt their conversation. She flew over to him quickly before his team mates could reach him and tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention. "Harry". Harry turned around to see who had spoken and blushed deeply when he saw that it was Cho. "Hi," muttered Harry. "I just wanted to congratulate you. You played really well. Well done". She smiled sweetly at him. "You - you played well too," stammered Harry. They floated there looking at each other for a while, then as though they had both suddenly realised what they were doing, tore their eyes away from each other quickly. Just then, the Gryffindor team arrived to congratulate Harry, and while he was being hugged by six people at once Cho flew back to the ground, glad that the awkward silence which had fallen between them had been interrupted.  
  
When Cho got back to the ground Malfoy was waiting for her. "What did he want with you?" he asked before even congratulating her, complementing her, or even saying it was a shame she had lost. "Who?" asked Cho breathlessly, pretending she didn't know what he was talking about. "Potter," replied Malfoy. "Oh, Harry," said Cho. "I just went to say 'well done' to him". "Oh," said Malfoy sounding slightly irritated. Just then Harry touched down smoothly next to the couple. Malfoy saw Cho smile at Harry and he return it.  
  
After dinner, which was a very loud affair on the Gryffindor table, Harry was stopped by someone in the Entrance Hall. He turned to see who it was and came face to face with Malfoy. "Potter," whispered Malfoy dangerously. "I'm warning you. You just keep away from my girlfriend". And before Harry could reply he had gone back into the Great Hall. Harry stood and stared at the spot Malfoy had been standing on for a second before heading back to Gryffindor Tower. Why was Malfoy so concerned about Harry talking to Cho? It was she who had started the conversation in the first place. Was Malfoy worried? Did he think Harry was going to take her away from him? Or was he just annoyed that Gryffindor had won that match?  
  
Ever since the Gryffindor - Ravenclaw game Cho seemed to be making a point of talking to Harry whenever she saw him, much to Malfoy's annoyance. Most of the time it was just a smile, a wave, or a quick "hi," but it still made Harry feel extremely happy and warm in-side. 


	4. Love?

Chapter 4  
  
Harry slumped down on his bed and stared up at the ceiling. It was a Saturday, two weeks after the Quidditch match and he had just been helping Hagrid with some Hippogriffs. He lay there for a while just staring blankly up at the ceiling when the thought which had been at the back of his mind crept out into the thinking part of his brain. Why was Cho being so nice to him? He had noticed that she was acknowlaging him an awful lot more than she had used to ever since he played against her in Quidditch. Maybe she liked him as something more than a friend. Harry had never thought of this before, just wished. What if she did fancy him. She certainly blushed everytime she saw him. "Oh, don't be stupid," Harry told himself, but now that he had even considered such a thing, the thought was very hard to get rid of. The trouble was, Malfoy seemed to be thinking exactly the same thing as Harry.  
  
Monday. The beginning of another week started, much to the all Gryffindors' annoyence, with Double Potions with the Slytherins. Harry followed Ron and Hermione into the gloomy, underground classroom as usual, only to bump into somebody and get thrown back out again. He stood up rubbing his back and came face to face with Draco Malfoy. Harry glared at him with hatred. "So, Potter," said Malfoy with a voice as cold as Harry's glare. "Been snooping around my girlfried agin have you?" Harry didn't say anything but simply glared harder at the pale faced boy. "You want to be careful, Potter," said Malfoy in a deadly whisper. "Since when has been talking to a friend been a crime?" asked Harry in a low voice. Malfoy suddenly grabbed hold of Harry's collar and pinned him to the wall. "You keep away from her. She's mine, not yours, and you making a point to speak to her every time you see her isn't going to change that". So, he was worried, Harry thought as Snape had finally stopped telling him off for provoking Malfoy. He was worried about Cho paying Harry a lot more attention. In fact, Harry remembered when he had sat himself down between his two best friends, only yeterday he had been talking to Cho when Malfoy had appeared at Cho's side and tried to kiss her. Cho, however, had shaken him off saying that he was inturrupting her conversation with Harry. This was obviously the cause for Malfoy's behaviour.  
  
Cho continued to talk to, wave, or smile at Harry whenever their eyes met, and Harry couldn't help noticing that Malfoy always glared at him and put a protective arm aound her, as though Harry might suddenly whisk her off. Harry like the attention he was getting from her, and he was certainly pleased that he was worrying and annoyign Malfoy. But he was also very himself at the same time. What if Malfoy got so annoyed that he tried to hurt Cho? No, he wouldn't. No matter how evil Malfoy could be, surely he wouldn't hurt the person he loved? Then, it would be Harry who would get hurt. He seemed to be holding it in at the moment, contenting himself with insults and threats, but this was probably done on Cho's orders not to hurt him. He wouldn't be able to contain the anger for much longer though, Harry could tell.  
  
"Hey, Harry!" Harry turned around in his comfortable chair by the fire to see Ron climbing through the portrait hole grinning from ear to ear. "Guess what?" he said excitedly. "Go on. Surprise me," replied Harry. "Guess!" insisted Ron. "Hmm. Let's see," said Harry pretending to be puzzled by all this. "Something about Hermione?" "How d'you know?" said Ron looking genuingly shocked. "Oh, come on - it's obvious!" said Harry smiling at his friend. "Is it?" "Yeah. Giggling around each other all the time. I'd be surprised if anyone's not noticed". "That obvious?!" exclaimed Ron. However, his huge grin was back as he slumped into a squashy chair opposite Harry and sighed happily. Ron sat there for a while just smiling to himself before he turned to Harry. "She's the best kisser ever, Harry," Ron sighed again. "How would you know? You've never kissed anyone else before". "Well, no," Ron admitted with a sheepish smile. "But there can't be anyone better than her". Then it was Harry's turn to sigh. "Harry," said Ron gently. "Find someone else". Harry looked up at his friend. "I know what you're thinking about. Cho's taken, Harry. You've got to give up. There's plenty of other girls here and loads of them like you, Harry". "But no-one actually knows me. No-one apart from Hermione, Ginny and Cho". "Well, Hermione's with me now, but I'm sure Gin-" "Hermione and Ginny are just friends. I don't fancy them," said Harry shortly. "Ye-yeah, but..." Ron tailed off. Just at that moment the two girls they were talking about appeared at the portrait hole. Both looked happy and excited about something. Probably because of the Ron-Hermione thing, Harry thought. Hermione must have been telling Ginny while Ron was talking to Harry. "Hi, you two," said Hermione happily. "Hello, darling," replied Ron, and the two of them forgot about the others as they giggled and kissed each other. Harry sat there uneasily, not knowing what to do. Ron and Hermione had completely forgotten about him and Ginny kept giving him suggestive glances. Harry got fed up after a while and decided to go for a walk. Nobody would miss him. Excepte for Ginny, of course. 


	5. The Rescue

(the title will make sense at the end, I promise. I have the last chapter written.)  
  
Chapter 5  
  
Harry sighed heavily and began slowly walking down some stairs, hands in his pockets, and vaguely thinking about visiting Hagrid, when something caught his attention. He could hear some voices coming from a classroom nearby. As he drew nearer to the room he could just make out who they were although the voices were too muffled to hear what they were actually saying. The voices belonged to Malfoy and Cho. Harry sat down on the stone- flagged floor feeling faint all of a sudden. He leaned against the thick wall and sighed again. Why did life have to be so difficult? Why? He was sitting there in the middle of the quiet corridor for sometime, thinking things over in his head when something suddenly disrupted his thoughts. A scream. Someone was crying for help. And that someone was Cho. Harry scrambled up from his place on the floor and sprinted towards the door of the classroom. He ran at the door but it would not open. He quickly pulled out his wand. "Alohomora". The door sprang open and he dashed in to find Cho pinned against the opposite wall, and Malfoy - Malfoy was raising his fist for a fresh strike, his other hand clamped over her mouth to muffle her cries. Without stopping to think Harry raced towards Malfoy and grasped his fist when it was inches away from Cho's face. "What do you think you're doing?" demanded Harry, panting as he pulled Malfoy around to face him. "I was just teaching her a lesson for being unfaithful," replied Malfoy, his face contorted with fury. "Then let me teach you a lesson," said Harry quietly. "Never. NEVER hit a girl!" And as he shouted the last word his fist collided with the side of the Slytherin's face. Malfoy flew backwards and landed on the floor. Harry drew out his wand again and pointed it at Malfoy.  
  
"Furnunculus!" yelled Harry. Malfoy rolled out of the way. "Densaugeo!" shouted Malfoy from the floor. The curse hit Harry and knocked him over. Angry red boils were springing up all over his face. Cho had slid down the wall and was now whimpering on the floor. Harry and Malfoy continued shooting various curses and hexes at each other, then - "Stupify!" The fighting stopped suddenly and the two boys fell to the floor with a dull thud. Cho was on her feet, shaking, with her wand in the air.  
  
Harry opened his eyes and groaned. He was lying on his back and everything seemed to swirl around him. He blinked. The room gradually came into focus, and he realised he was in the Hospital Wing. He sat up with some difficulty and groped around for his glasses on the bedside table. He put them on and looked around. He saw Malfoy lying unconcious in a bed across from his own, and Cho was sitting in the bed next to him looking at him with concerned eyes. Harry felt his heart skip a beat as he noticed her gaze.  
  
"Are you OK?" Harry said quietly. "Yes," she whispered and gave him a weak smile. Then, without warning she burst into tears. "Cho!" cried Harry in alarm. "Cho, cho. What's wrong?" Harry awkwardly climbed out of bed and hobbled over to sit next to Cho. He put a comforting arm around her and she started weeping into his chest. "Harry, thank you so much for saving me," she sobbed. "I was so scared, Harry. So scared". "It's OK, Cho. It's the least I could do. I couldn't just stand there and watch him hurt you". "It's because, because. It's because I... He thought I was paying you more attention than him," she stammered. "He always used to be so nice to me, Harry. Always. Even when I was going out with Cedric. I never understood why people kept saying he was horrible. I knew you didn't get on with him, but... I didn't know he could be so evil. I know now. He started hitting me and bullying me a couple of days ago. He never used his wand on me. Just hit me. Insulted me. Teased me... And all because of you..." "I'm sorry," said Harry. "What? Sorry for what?" said Cho lifting her head from his chest and looking up at him. "Everything. Malfoy's change of attitude. It was my fault". There was a short pause. "I didn't mean it like that. When I said it was all because of you. I wasn't blaming you for what happened". "But it was my fault," replied Harry miserably staring at the floor. "If you did anything, you made me realise that I was wrong. That he's a nasty piece of work. I don't know how he'll react but I'm splitting up with him". Harry smiled a little at this comment but it was soon whiped off his face as he remembered something. "Cedric," he said. "What?" "Cedric. That was my fault. If I hadn't told him to take the Cup with me, he wouldn't have been killed by Voldemort". Cho flinched and looked down at her feet. "It wasn't your fault, Harry," she murmured. She looked up at him. "You didn't mean for it to happen. It wasn't your fault". "I should have just taken the Cup when he told me to. I shouldn't have let him come with me". "Harry, you didn't know it was a Portkey. You had no idea. I'm not blaming you," said Cho gently. "You're not?" asked Harry slowly. He looked up from the floor. "No".  
  
Harry could feel himself leaning towards Cho as if she were some kind of magnet. Before he knew what was happening he could feel Cho's soft lips against his as they shared their fist kiss. They pulled appart and looked into each other's eyes. They both blushed deeply. "I'm sorry," muttered Harry, tearing his eyes away from hers in embarrassment. He then felt Cho's hand on his face gently turning it to face hers. This time it was Cho who leaned in for their second kiss. Their arms slowly wrapped around each other as they continued their passionate kiss. Suddenly there was a loud bang behind them and they quickly pulled appart from each other and turned around.  
  
Malfoy stood by his bed his wand raised. He had the coldest and meanest look on his face that neither of them had ever seen before. Before Harry could reach for his wand, a burst of light had shot at Malfoy from somewhere beside him, and he stared at Malfoy as he suddenly clutched his side and began laughing hysterically. He turned and look at Cho, stunned. Her face showed determination and triumph. Harry started giggling at the look on her face. She turned to him and grinned. 


	6. The Reaction

The next morning Cho and Harry walked out of the Hospital Wing hand in hand, gazing at each other with misty eyes. Malfoy was still in the Wing. It seemed like Harry had managed to cause more damage than he had thought. Harry was so happy that not even the hour long detention with Snape that evening could spoil his feelings. They walked into the Great Hall a few minutes later for breakfast. As soon as they entered the chatter died down and the Hall went deadly quiet. Harry noticed that everyone was staring at them and the only expressions he could see were of disbelief, anger, annoyance, and sadness. The unpleasant silence was followed immediately by even more unpleasant whispers. Harry looked at Cho, who had gone very pale, and pulled her back out into the Entrance Hall with one last glance at the staring faces. He then lead Cho over to the oak front doors and out into the beautiful Hogwarts grounds. They sat underneath a large tree for a while, staring over the lake in silence.  
  
"They were talking about me," said Cho at last. "They were talking about us," corrected Harry. "They just weren't expecting us to walk into the Hall holding hands. They'll get used to the idea soon enough". Silence. "Did you see the looks on their faces?" asked Cho. Harry didn't reply. "Some people just looked shocked," went on Cho. "Some people looked sad. Like Ginny". Harry glanced at his girlfriend uneasily. "Some people looked annoyed. Even angry". Just then, Harry noticed two figures sprinting across the grounds to where he was sitting. "Harry," panted Ron. "Cho..." "Congratulations!" said Hermione brightly. "Hey, what's the matter?" asked Ron noticing the disgruntled look on Harry's face. "You were there, Ron," said Harry quietly. "You saw what happened. You've heard what peoople are saying". "What, that Cho's a scarlet woman?" said Ron without thinking. "Ron!" moaned Hermione, sharply elbowing him in the ribs. Cho's eyes filled up with tears, and Harry glared at Ron. "Erm...I mean.....I meant.....," stammered Ron. "Is that what you think?" said Cho in a shakey voice. "Is that what you think I am?" Harry put his arm around her small quivering shoulders. "No. No. Of course not. It's just that.....," began Ron, but Cho wriggled free of Harry's arm, stood up, and started walking back up to the castle. She didn't want people to think that they had succeseeded in upsetting her. "Thanks a lot, Ron," said Harry standing up and hurrying after the girl. Hermione looked at their retreating backs sadly before turning angrily to Ron. "That was so insensitive," she said, whilst Ron stared miserably at his feet.  
  
As soon as Harry entered the Entrance Hall with Cho, he wished they were both somewhere else. Faces turned in their direction, and the unpleasant whispers began again:  
  
"She doesn't even know him".  
  
"She's only going out with him because he's good at Quidditch".  
  
"She only likes him cause he's famous".  
  
"Why would Harry go out with her?"  
  
"She was going out with a Death Eater's son. How dare she even go near Harry!"  
  
Harry realised then, that the whispers were indeed, aimed at Cho, just as she had said, and they were all coming from girls of various ages. Harry wasn't getting away with nothing though - he was recieving angry looks from a lot of the boys. Harry remembered himself giving that same angry look to Malfoy and Cedric when they had been going out with Cho. Harry could deal with that though, he got it all the time from the Slytherins. He was more concerned about Cho. He didn't want her to get upset, and she certainly was now. Would the whispering die down? Would she be able to cope? Would she leave Harry in preferance of a whisper-free life? 


	7. The Unwelcome Owl

Chapter 7 : The Unwelcome Owl  
  
The next morning, Harry went down to breakfast alone, hoping that everyone had calmed down a little since last night; Harry had noticed Cho having a rough time at the Ravenclaw table. Nobody took any notice of Harry as he walked in through the magnificent doors, but Harry saw that Cho was sitting by herself at the end of her table. He considered joining her there to keep her company but thought better of it as heads started to turn his way. He gave her a swift reasuring smile and hurridly took his place between Ron and Hermione at the Gryffindor table. As soon as he sat down Ron, who Harry had been ignoring since yesterday morning, turned to him.  
  
"Look, Harry. About yesterday...," Ron began tentatively. "Forget it. It's OK," cut in Harry without even looking at his friend. "I just wanted to say..." "Forget it, OK?" Harry turned to Ron. "I know you didn't mean it like that. It just wasn't the right thing to say at that time," said Harry quietly. Ron gave Harry a weak smile, which he returned.  
  
Just then, there was a sudden rush of movement over head. "Aah, mail's here," said Ron, glancing around for a sign of Pig. "You expecting something?" asked Harry. "No, not really," replied Ron. Harry gave his friend an odd look. Ron shrugged.  
  
The Hall quietened down a little as people opened their packages and read their letters, but the relative quiet was suddenly broken by a sudden painful cry. Harry, along with everybody else, twisted around in his seat to see who had screamed. He was just scanning the Hufflepuff table when he felt two hands tightly grasp him on each arm. He looked, and gasped. "Cho!" cried Harry, and ran towards his girlfriend as fast as he could. "Cho, are you OK? What...?" "Pus," moaned Cho. "What?" "Pus, Harry. Pus". Harry stared at her blankly for a second before suddenly remembering. "Oh! Pus!" he said. "Bubotuber pus! Not to worry. Hermione got some last year. It'll be OK. Come on, I'll take you to the Hospital Wing". He pulled Cho up by her arm, carefully avoiding coming in contact with the pus himself, and lead her out of the Hall and up several flights of stairs to the Hospital.  
  
"Ooh, you're a mess," said Madam Pomfrey as they entered the Hospital. "Pus, is it? Not to worry. I can fix that in a jiffy". She rummaged around in a cupboard and took out a bottle of purple liquid and a glass. As she was pouring the potion into the glass she suddenly said to Harry: "Your knack for getting injuries must be infectious, Potter. Sending Miss Chang into the Hospital Wing like this". Harry looked at her uneasily. She looked up and smiled at him. "I come here quite often anyway," said Cho quietly. "Oh, but not for a couple of years. Well, not until you met Potter that is". She smiled at Harry again. Cho drank the medicine in one go and shuddered. "Eurgh! That was horrible". "Well, what did you expect?" asked Madam Pomfrey with raised eyebrows. "Now, you'd better stay here and get some rest, Miss Chang. Potter, off you go. You'll be late for your first lesson". She put away the bottle of purple liquid and went back to her office, muttering something about Quidditch being a dangerous sport. "You'll be OK, Cho," said Harry gently to the girl in the bed. "Yes," she smiled. "I wonder who sent it though?" They both frowned. "I don't know," said Harry shaking his head sadly. "I really don't know".  
  
Harry walked out of the Hospital Wing a minute later and walked right into Ron and Hermione. Judging by the way Ron had falled over when Harry opened the door, he had been standing with his ear pressed against it. Hermione was standing a few feet away with a half disapproving, half amused expression on her face.  
  
"Err," said Ron awkwardly. "Is she OK?" "Do you really need to ask me that, Ron?" said Harry, grinning at him. Ron grinned back, and Harry saw Hermione shake her head with a small smile playing on her lips. With that, the three of them hurried along the corridor to Defence Against the Dark Arts. 


End file.
